Month: November 2012

We’re very excited to welcome back the fabulous Katherine Runswick-Cole (Research Institute of Health and Social Change, Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University), after which we’ll be heading out for a christmassy bite to eat. Come join us!

Date/Time: Tuesday 18th December 2012 2.00pm – 3.30pm

Venue: Room 10212 in the Arundel Building, City Campus, Sheffield Hallam University (More information on the venue can be found here)

Title:(Neuro)diversity: Pros and cons for (neoliberal) social policy

Abstract: This paper sets out to explore the term ‘neurodiversity’ and to examine the potential and limitations of ‘a politics of neurodiversity’ (Singer, 1999) in a neoliberal social policy context. This work in progress seeks to problematise the notions of neurodiversity and neo-liberal social policy and to explore the possibilities of a politics of dismodernity (Davis, 2003).

There are still slots available in to present in 2013, so if you, or anybody you know, would like to present at a DRF seminar please do get in touch. Alternatively, let us know if there is an issue/article/book on which you’d like to facilitate discussion. Please email Jenny Slater: j.slater@shu.ac.uk

Katherine Runswick-Cole(Research Institute of Health and Social Change, Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University): (Neuro)diversity: pros and cons for (neoliberal) social policy

This paper sets out to explore the term ‘neurodiversity’ and to examine the potential and limitations of ‘a politics of neurodiversity’ (Singer, 1999) in a neoliberal social policy context. This work in progress seeks to problematise the notions of neurodiversity and neo-liberal social policy and to explore the possibilities of a politics of dismodernity (Davis, 2003).

Followed by Christmas Tea!

2. 9th January 2013 (Weds) 12pm-2pm, Arundel 10111

Slot 1: Jenny Slater (Department of Education, Childhood and Inclusion): “You’re not, I mean… I know you’re not, but I have to ask, you’re not… sexually active, are you?” Youth, disability and sexuality

If you, or anybody you know, would like to present at a DRF seminar please do get in touch. Alternatively, let us know if there is an issue/article/book on which you’d like to facilitate discussion. Please email Rebecca Mallett: r.mallett@shu.ac.uk. More information on the venue can be found here and we’d like to take this opportunity to remind all presenters of the Accessible Presenting Info here. We look forward to productive and engaging discussions ahead.

This is a call for abstracts from which authors may be invited to submit an article to be included in a special issue of the Journal of Public Child Welfare. This special issue will focus on studies that contribute to our knowledge of child welfare practice with parents and/or children with disabilities. Children with disabilities are over represented within the child welfare system, with nearly double the rate of substantiated maltreatment than their non-disabled peers. Less is known about the prevalence of parents with disabilities in child welfare caseloads, although recent studies also indicate an over-representation.

The editors are particularly interested in the following:

• Original applied or other empirical research studies on child welfare practice with parents and/or children with disabilities, including studies on prevalence, needs, experiences, evidence based practice, and outcomes.
• Evaluations of new practice models in working with parents and/or children; or innovative training or workforce initiatives to improve disability competence.
• Analyses of system approaches to working with parents and/or children with disabilities in child welfare.
• Analysis of local, state, and/or federal policies impacting service delivery to parents and/or children with disabilities.
• Literature reviews, meta-analyses, and commentaries on the intersection of child welfare with disability.
• Theoretical or critical papers regarding this theme.

On one autumnal October evening, in a room full to capacity, over 45 interested individuals – including academics from various faculties and Disabled Student Support staff, Sheffield Hallam University; academics from the University of Sheffield, members of autism and disability communities – came together, in wisdom and wonder, to explore ‘disability’ with Tanya Titchkosky and Rod Michalko (University of Toronto, Canada).

On Tuesday 16th October we (the third year BA (Hons) Education and Disability Studies students at Sheffield Hallam University) were extremely lucky to be given the opportunity to meet Rod Michalko and Tanya Titchkosky. Since starting the course three years ago we have read different journal articles, books and reviews written by Rod and Tanya so to meet them in person was a real treat.

During the day, Rod and Tanya attended our Critical Disability Studies module session where we were given the opportunity to chat, discuss and ask questions regarding their professional and, in some cases, personal experiences of living with an impairment and how they are “accepted” in society. During this session I became inspired at how amazing and influential these two individuals are by expressing and sharing their views of impairment and disability within society. During the session, I know I am not alone in saying, I learnt, understood and viewed a number of different ideas and theories through a fresh approach thanks to their brilliant explanations and examples. The highlights include…

“Different words have different meanings” Rod Michalko

“The one thing that interests me more than blindness is sight and eyes are used for a lot more than just seeing” Rod Michalko

Disability is the assumption that everyone knows what it means, in many cases broken/abnormal. “We’ve been protected against the term disability” as “Disability is seen as a problem” Tanya Titchkosky

“What we see isn’t necessarily correct” Tanya Titchkosky

In the evening Rod offered an examination of the ‘expert’ while Tanya offered suggestions on what a disability studies perspective could offer a critical study of education. In her newest piece of work, “Towards a Politics of Wonder”, Tanya described an experience where a group of people weren’t considered during a fire evacuation and how a number of obstacles caused many of the individuals involved to be put at unnecessary danger. This lead to many interesting and eye opening views and theories including…

by not recognising and supporting people with disabilities we are adding and increasing dangers

it isn’t a lack of awareness, the fire fighters involved had been trained and given procedures and ways of supporting people in such situations but this is often interpreted as “it’s such a problem, it is easier to stay away” Tanya Titchkosky

To conclude I feel that the opportunity has been extremely useful and many of the theories, views and experiences shared and discussed will stay with me for many years to come. The messages I received from Rod and Tanya have not only been extremely useful and assisted with my academic work but they have also assisted and made me view disability and the “problems” differently. This has been evident through the practical aspect of things. When working in a Special Needs school, when being out in the general public and while spending time planning and developing my career I have been able to view things differently by some of the extremely useful discussions with Rod and Tanya.

I found Rod and Tanya’s seminar so influential that I have since set my heart on becoming a Disability Studies lecturer within a University just like them. It has enabled me to see just how much is possible and how disability is still seen as a “problem” when it really doesn’t have to be.

The conceptual impetus for this still developing paper is Derrida’s critique of logocentrism and the metaphysics of presence, in which he claims that speech over writing is uncritically perceived as a more immediate presence to one’s self and by extension others and that this assumption pervades not only Western philosophy texts but also interaction and communication in everyday life. Although the significance of Derrida’s post-structural ideas about speech and language have been developed within Deaf Studies as related to sign language communication, their significance has not been drawn out for those who are significantly ‘speech impaired’ and thus require communication assistance. In this paper, I employ some of Derrida’s notions as a starting point to interrogate the issue of mediated communication for people who require some form of communication assistance such as a speech facilitator, speech revoicer, alphabet board or computerized speech device. Also drawing on debates and insights within critical disability studies, feminist phenomenology, the anthropology of the knowing subject, Deaf studies and speech pathology, among other fields, I am concerned to highlight the issue of “communication disablement” (Patterson 2012) within the lives of people who require the above kinds of communication assistance be that in the form of a technology or a person. To illustrate certain points, I draw on my involvement in a number of research projects that have included as participants people who require assistance to communicate, as well as my many years of experience as a personal assistant for and friend and colleague of several such persons.

Dr Russell Shuttleworth is a Senior Lecturer and Co-ordinator of the MSW Program in the School of Health and Social Development, at Deakin University, Australia. His teaching responsibilities currently include several classes in research methodology and another on care and risk. Russell recently co-edited a book with Teela Sanders (Leeds University) entitled, Sex and Disability: Politics, Identity and Access. He has published numerous articles in peer reviewed journals as well as book chapters on subjects including sexuality and disability, aged care and disability studies theory.